Political Beginnings

Political Beginnings

Political Beginnings

Political Beginnings

Political Beginnings

Political Beginnings

Polk had arrived on the Tennessee scene just as the nation
plunged into economic crisis with the Panic of 1819. His law mentor,
Felix Grundy–an up and coming politician–helped Polk secure the
post of clerk of the House of Representatives, a post that Polk
would hold for four years. In 1821, Polk arrived in Murfreesboro
for the next session of the legislature (Tennessee at that time
had no permanent state capital; it rotated between Knoxville, Kingsport,
Nashville and Murfreesboro). The budding national prominence of
Andrew Jackson had invigorated the whole state, for it appeared that
Jackson was heading for Washington and the presidency. Grundy stood
as one of Jackson's closest advisors and friends. As a former Chief
Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court and a Tennessee congressional
representative, Grundy's words had much impact, and his friendship
opened many doors for Polk in his early political days.

Early in the legislative term, the government celebrated
with a gala event for the state's governor where he met Sarah Childress, the
daughter of a wealthy and prominent family, whom Polk had briefly
known while they were at the academy several years prior. Within
a few months, his calls at the Childress house had become daily
occurrences. Sarah encouraged Polk to run for the legislature himself,
and he declared his candidacy soon thereafter.

Polk began his political campaign with a horseback tour
of Maury County, where he listened to complaints and answered questions
as best he could. With little in the way of entertainment in backwoods
Tennessee, the arrival of a young politician often became the center
of much attention: Merchants closed shops, farmers came in from
the fields and families brought picnics to listen to the speeches.
In November, Polk, who was now known as the "Napoleon of the Stump,"
won handily and he next entered the House of Representatives not
as a clerk but as a full representative.

First on the new legislature's agenda was its response
to the internal improvement plan set forth by President James Madison.
Madison's plan to spend Federal money to build roads and canals throughout
the states met strong resistance in some areas as opponents feared
that the federal roads would diminish states' rights. As Polk asked,
"Shall we jeopardize our sovereignty for the sake of a dirt road
and a canal or two?" Although he admitted that Tennessee–like many
other states–was too poor to build the roads himself, he did not
believe the trade-off was worth it. Eventually, Tennessee sent
its senators off to Washington with the caveat to proceed carefully
and to ensure that state independence remained protected under
any plan. Polk loved every minute of the debate, and he remarked
to Sarah, now his fiancée, that his only regret about entering
politics was that he "didn't take the plunge sooner." On January 1,
1824, he and Sarah married. Although they would have a loving and
strong marriage for many years, they never had children.

The next year, Polk hit the campaign trail again–this
time for the U.S. House of Representatives. The presidential election
in 1824 had left bitter feelings in Tennessee, as John Quincy Adams
had secured the presidency after the election had been thrown into
the House of Representatives. Andrew Jackson had won in the Electoral
College, but had not gained a majority. Adams had arraigned it
so that the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, who also had been a
candidate, would drop out and throw his support behind Adams in
exchange for being appointed Secretary of State. When the votes were
tallied Adams won, and in the coming weeks, the Adams-Clay deal
became clear and Jackson and his supporters cried foul over the
"corrupt bargain." In their eyes, this wrong had to be avenged. In
October, leaving Sarah behind, Polk began his long trip to Washington.

Washington at that time remained little more than a shell
of the great city that it had been designed to be. Besides a few
large government buildings, most of the city remained swamp and
good accommodations were hard to come by. Polk arrived in Washington just
barely thirty years old and he spent his first two months in Congress
listening and watching. On January 23, 1826, Polk presented a bill
to authorize the Federal government to relinquish certain lands
in Tennessee. Seven weeks later, on March 13, Polk made his "maiden
speech" to the House in support of a bill that would disassemble
the Electoral College in order to prevent a rerun of the 1824 election–the
power of the election must be in the hands of the people, Polk
proclaimed. A month later, Polk again visited the floor to oppose
the Panama Mission, in which the U.S. had been invited to send
delegates to a Panama convention with other western nations to discuss
better relationships. Polk feared that the mission would lead to
"entangling alliances." After weeks of debate, Congress approved
the mission–only to have it fizzle before it really began: one
delegate died en route and the other delegate arrived only after the
conference had wrapped up. The potential problems had been averted.